We’re open for business through the winter; from 1st December to 6th January the boats will be in festive dress with mince pies and mulled wine included in the price.

Crisp bright winter days on the canal can be just as enjoyable as warm sunny ones, but even if we’re not so lucky with the weather, the centrally heated cabins will be cosy-warm. We’ve refreshed our collections of music cds and added playing cards, dominos and a few other games.

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Three of our members Richard, John and Brian set up our stall at the Get Set Go Dacorum event in mid January held at Hemel Hempstead Old Town Hall. The purpose of the event was to inspire people with physical and learning difficulties to get active.

Exhibitors offered a huge selection of opportunities to interest visitors and there was an excellent presentation by Mitchell Camp, Athlete, World Games medalist and Special Olympic Ambassador .

Our donated raffle prize of a boat trip was won by a local charity and we look forward to meeting them again later in the year. All in all it was a most enjoyable morning with plenty of chat and net working opportunities.

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Earlier this year, one of the willows just South of the railway bridge fell down, greatly restricting the width of the canal. The Canal and River Trust are pretty speedy at clearing trees completely blocking the canal, but if you can still get a boat past, you may have to wait for a year or so for the Trust’s contractors to clear the whole channel.

It was fairly easy for a narrowboat to pass, but getting our wide beams through called for some pretty hazardous manoeuvres. So with a couple of hours to spare, Dave Lee and John Bennett took Sheldrake 2, some loppers and a bow saw, and managed to greatly improve the situation. However, the tree just sagged lower, and branches got in the way again … then another tree fell just beyond this, forcing our boats to ground again whilst trying to pass. More drastic action was called for.

After a short day trip, Nick Alexander, Marion Roberts and John Bennett set off again to have another go. Nick did a great job keeping the boat in just the right spot while Marion and John set to work on the greenery. Some delicate manoeuvring later (including making room for passing traffic) and further skilful use of loppers and saws, the deck was soon full of willow. Then ‘all’ that was needed was to transfer this onto the offside bank. This process repeated several times to leave a nice clear navigation channel for wide as well as narrow beams.

The odd thing is, that few would know that the work had even been done – you don’t notice what isn’t there. Everyone would comment on the blockage; no-one would notice that it wasn’t there. Still, those involved know that they made a real contribution, and made every trip we run a bit easier.

John

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Such is the demand for our boat trips this summer, that our band of 55 volunteer skippers and crew are beginning to struggle to keep up. We’re therefore offering training days on 21 June and 25 July for anyone with boating experience who would like to join us as boat crew.

Crew volunteering is a great way of enjoying the local canal, and helping others to do the same. For many of our customers with disabilities, it’s the only way they can get afloat and join in with helping at locks and steering the boat. We’re particularly looking for boaters prepared to give us a couple or more days per month between now and the end of October to help ensure that we meet demand for trips for the rest of the season.

Training days are free of charge, but having been trained, we expect you to sign up to crew at least 1-2 times per month, subject to the number of trip bookings we receive. Details of booked trips are circulated to all crew members by email and assignments allocated accordingly. Training is a requirement regardless of the extent of prior boating experience.

Training days start promptly at 9.30 am and finish at 4.30 pm.

Click here to register for a place on Sunday 21 June or Sunday 12 July.

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Bookings are coming in thick and fast and keeping our volunteer crews very busy over the coming weeks … which means they won’t have much time for their gardening. Good thing that our partner charity, Sunnyside Trust at the Hemel Food Garden has great offers on summer bedding plants this coming Saturday. Don’t miss out! Click here for more details.

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On a bright and frosty Friday morning at the end of January, Waterways Experiences hosted a community-building event with the South West Herts branch of Link4Growth – the second time that we’ve made use of our excellent facilities at the boat base for hosting this type of free networking event. One of the guests was interested in volunteering for us while another was keen to find out more about the boats and their facilities as his wife works with a charity for children with learning difficulties. It’s not just about Waterways Experiences though – plenty of good conversation on other topics ensures most people leave the event with new contacts and ideas to help their particular business or interests.

Link4Growth’s Chris Ogle donned his Googlespecs to film Rick on a guided tour through our flagship Sheldrake 3, highlighting the work that Waterways Experiences does and the facilities that the boat provides.

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The boats, the visitor centre and the boat base were looking at their best, sparkling in the warm October sunshine, when a party of local dignitaries paid Waterways Experiences a visit last week.

On 31 October the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, Mr Fergus McMullen, the Mayor and Mayoress of Dacorum Borough Council, Allan and Wendy Lawson, the Deputy Mayor, Gbola Adeleke, Sally Marshall, Chief Executive of Dacorum Borough Council and Derek Townsend, the Deputy Lieutenant were on a whistle-stop tour of Dacorum, meeting people from a range of local charities and organisations. Waterways Experiences was thrilled to be chosen as one of only seven organisations to be visited.

Our visitors were very impressed with the Education and Visitor Centre, then they made their way to the boats. They were amazed to learn we had only started providing boat trips in June, yet had already transported 1,000 passengers, a high proportion of whom would not normally be able to enjoy the canals, including many with moderate or severe disabilities, their carers and companions. We showed them the special facilities we have to ensure everyone has a great day out, helping to steer the boat, working the locks or just enjoying the quiet of the countryside with friends or colleagues. They were struck by the space and facilities available on the boats. In fact, so much so that they went away with bundles of flyers about the charity for their own use and to pass on to others they felt would be interested. Watch this space for future bookings!!

John Bennett
Judy Mead
Andrew Murray

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Trips available throughout the winter …

We operate year round - call our friendly booking team on 01923 723819 for information and to arrange your group's great value canal cruise.
Festive cruises during December include complimentary mulled wine and mince pies

What people say about our trips

It was a fantastic experience, the trip was very enjoyable for children and adults alike. It made my daughter's birthday very special.

A wonderful day, thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. Not always easy to achieve. As much or as little as one wanted to do. All the extra bits usually missing from self-catering facilities, tea towels, washing up liquid and sponge, salt, pepper etc all present and correct! Amazing! You really can "just bring milk" as suggested.

There was enough room to sit at least eight on the deck and more inside. We bought our own camping chairs but there are some fold up chairs available on board. The boat was wider than we had previously experienced so the younger and older members were able to move about with ease without bumping into each other or having to move out of the way, which was great as we had expected the boat to be 'narrow'. The opportunity to have a take away fish and chips meal brought to the boat was a bonus and meant that I didn't have to do the catering. The meal was also reasonably priced and the serving was huge - even by my family's standards! The trip was very good value for money and I have recommended Waterways Experiences to my friends and would extend the recommendation to anyone reading this review. This was a 50th birthday treat from my mum and aunt and it was exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday.

Wonderful day out enjoyed by all. Residents haven't stopped talking about how lovely it was. The crew were so helpful which took away a lot of the usual stresses when arranging a day trip for our residents.

Never been on a canal trip before enjoyed the whole experience and will definitely recommend it. No need to worry about lack of experience everything so well explained.

This was a great family day out and our needs were fully met. We all had the opportunity to work the locks and steer the boat - and if we chose to relax on deck instead, that was fine. The crew were very friendly and it was a delight to be able to include a crew member's dog (our permission had been sought beforehand). This made the trip extra special.

Fantastic day out run by a brilliant company and it’s all for a good cause.

Very enjoyable - your adaptable and friendly staff made us extremely welcome and were appreciative of the needs of a class of 10 year olds.

A really wonderful experience for us all - beautiful boat, beautiful scenery, beautiful day and a wonderful and fun crew. Thank you all so much.

The party of elderly folk we had on board thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Without hesitation I will recommend you to anyone I think will enjoy and benefit from a time on the water. I look forward to another trip!

We really enjoy the boat trips almost as much as the service users! Its not like being at work at all! We recommend wherever we can to fellow groups as the service you offer is so good & excellent value for money.

We had a wonderful day - the sunny weather helped! There were 22 of us which was a good number and meant that there was lots of room. It was an extremely relaxing, well organised day. Thank you.

All our party thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They loved the serenity, calmness, the scenery, the ducks, swans and wildlife.

I have already been telling all my friends what a fantastic trip it was and will like the same crew Pete, Graham and Maggie and not forgetting Ruby. The crew are all so friendly and made it even more special We can't thank the crew enough for such a memorable experience!!!!

The whole group went away very impressed with the evening, very keen to come back, thinking of ways to use the boats for other groups and complimenting the skipper and crew on the quality of the experience.

I was really impressed by the boat, crew and back office. It made the day the best it could have been. The crew was extremely friendly and integrated the guests into enjoying the running of the boat, helping with locks and steering. All in all a very professionally run day and I would not hesitate to book again in the future.

We all had an amazing day, everyone said how friendly the crew were and how helpful, this made such a difference to the day. When asking the team how they felt they used the words excellent, amazing, perfect and a very special team day out. It was great fun every minute of it.